Monday, November 17, 2008

I just got back from visiting my family in Charlotte, NC this past weekend. There was typical family drama, lots of 2nd hand smoke, and a lack of skating, but it was good to see everyone and play with the kids. I got some footage of the little ones and will probably post something later, though that will mostly just be for my family. I think it is funny that my nephews and niece still think that I live in an airplane and just fly around all the time until I visit them. On my way to the airport yesterday my oldest nephew (turning 4 in a week) asked me if I live in the big plane with all of my friends. Haha.

Anyway, I watched three of the many videos (that I recently got) during the trip: Beez Vol. 1-3, Shake Junt, and Why Wouldn't You.

The Beez videos are made by a group of guys in Wisconsin or someplace as equally irrelevant as that, however, their videos are amazing. They have lines that involve them not even standing on their boards! Think handboarding with a real skateboard. These guys are definitely have more fun filming that anyone you know, and I can say that with great certainty...even if you are in the Tiltmode Army! One of my favorite tricks in the video is simply someone dropping their board into this tube thing and jumping on it as it shoots out the bottom. There are 4 videos included on the DVD and each one just gets more bizarre and more amazing. I was watching this on the plane on the way to Charlotte and the guy sitting next to me kept looking up puzzled, like he didn't know what was going on. This video has opened my eyes up a bit and has given me some ideas for expanding my horizons when it comes to skateboarding. While the skaters in the video were not the most skilled (there were some exceptions), they are some the most creative bunch I have ever seen. Good job guys. Beez 4? Anytime soon? Can I please have a part?! Hahaha.

Next I watched Shake Junt, a video of Baker Beagle's crew. This video had a Baker section and parts for a lot of the Baker flow guys. I was pretty disappointed in this video. Granted, I had little kids climbing all over me as I was watching it, it just didn't impress me. The Baker section was better then the rest of the video in sum, which is kind of sad since the Baker section was fairly short and had mostly throwaway footage. The video was edited in a Baker-ish style, which is unfortunate since it just resulted in a low-grade knockoff that probably would be lucky to survive the Canal Street of the skate world. There were a lot of bangers and big tricks, but that was mostly boring and nothing really stood out to me. I will leave it at this: not worth the money.

Lastly, I watched the Why Wouldn't You video out of Portland. This video made me want to move to Portland even more. It may not have covered all the basis of Portland skating to be completely representative, but it came closer than an other video (yes, even the Pharmacy video...obviously). Josh Falk had a decent part (it started slow but unfolded into something sick at the end), Ben Krahn had a sick part, Wildcard had a part (which is sick since he is deaf park rat that used to live in the park), Brent Atchley had a part better than his Element part, Red got ridiculous in his full part, and Mikey Chin had the last part. I think I actually witnessed his ender a year and a half back too. The introductions in the video were pretty weird and I would get uneasy when the chainsaw came out...especially when he was trying kickflips while holding it (on). The video totally could have been a bit shorter, but was worth the money by far. Now to figure out the next trip to Portland!

If you want to bump, let's go...

If you have time to waste, click through to the YouTube page and watch some of the video replies in the "related videos" area.

Monday, November 10, 2008

I was looking through some of the popular videos on YouTube and came cross a video by Hayden Panettiere. I think she is one of the girls on The Hills or one of those shows.

Don't worry about listening to the whole thing, just listen enough to get the feel for it. I thought that it sounded pretty familiar. It seems like she is use the same person to write her songs as Paris...not positive, but they sound very similar.

No wonder I have trouble find any new music worth listening to.

Anyway, to skateboarding. I randomly thought about that Way of the Warriors contest that the Wetboys won a couple years ago and searched it out. Click here to check out the entries for 2008 and see who won. While the entries were good, I just didn't see any that stood out as "having it" this year. There is always next year...and depending on where I am living, I may want to enter. I wanted to enter this year but forgot...oh well.

Justin has updated Popills with a 16mm clip from his recent trip to Chile. Speaking of, the New Thirsty video is now available for sale. If you don't see it in the shops, click on the picture below to buy it online.

I don't know if I have posted this before, but watch this clip from Post22. I want to skate that satellite dish so bad. I think it is in Raleigh, and while I am going to Charlotte this weekend, Charlotte is nowhere near Raleigh.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

While visiting FTC Skateshop in SF, there was a video chock full of SF spots playing on the TV. I was told that it was a video called Pandemic – a Western Edition and 48 Blocks collaboration. I think it only cost $5 or something, so I picked it up.

I hadn’t gotten a chance to watch the video until last night, but it definitely made up for the time I wasted watching that movie Hard Candy right before it. First off, the soundtrack was pretty great. There was maybe one song in the bonus stuff that I didn’t like, but other than that it was prime hip-hop, instrumentals, and classics. From Masta Ace to InI (you can never go wrong with InI). The filming was fairly constant throughout, which is not the case with most videos (which are a mashup of many filmers and missions). However, the editing was probably what tied the whole video together very well. It wasn’t overly done, but the transitions and scenic shots were done very tastefully.

Nikil Thayer had the opening part and came through with his smooth, clean effortless style. It was a solid part with no filler. The next part belongs to Joey Johnson. I think Joey is a victim of circumstance, because his part was good…it just wasn’t up to par with what the others were doing. Lavar McBride is one of those ‘90s classic skaters who somehow managed to put out timeless parts as a little kid. Well, Lavar is all growns up, and it shows. He still skates like the old Lavar in respect to doing almost everything switch (and slightly sketchy), but his style is a bit more mature and he isn’t hoping down things as much. While I am not a fan of his pushing (and definitely not of his switch-mongo pushing) his part came together in a way that maintains his credibility. The last part went to Nate Keegan, whom I have not seen much of to date. His last part positioning was truly well deserved. I am definitely a fan of this Nate now. The way Nate skates is original in that he approaches things differently. He may not do the most creative tricks on the most creative spots, but his approach and trick sequencing is what sets him apart and makes him memorable…plus his two songs were pretty great to top it off.

There were two montages thrown in at various points, one for 48 Blocks and the other for Western Edition. They both had great footage from friends and teammates that added to the very SF vibe of the video. AND it didn’t seem like most of this was throwaway that the friends just gave them because they didn’t care about it.

I’m backing Pandemic. I mean, what else are you going to spend the $5 on? A gallon of gas? That won’t get you down the block. Pop this in and get psyched to skate across the city!

Oh yeah, Brad Comer is on Krooked. Click here to watch his introduction footage. (Click the Quicktime symbol on the bottom of the page)

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

I’m not sure what it is, but I love most Canadian video. Perhaps it is the aesthetic, perhaps it is filming quality, or perhaps it is the level of skating. Favorites include North, North 2: Port Moody Blues, and the Anti-Social video. While Modern Love (by the Green Apple crew) came out in 2005, I have yet to find a copy until my trip to SF. I was psyched to see it since I have had such a good, consistent experience with the other videos. I finally got the chance to pop it in last night and give it a watch.

I was actually kind of confused while watching this. I was pretty sure that it came out in the last 3 years, but I couldn’t find the date anywhere on the box and it sure didn’t seem like a recent video. While there was random, nonsensical, old VHS and/or Hi-8 footage thrown in, I was more concerned about the quality of the DV footage. The filming was sketchy, the lenses were dirty, and there were plenty of suspect makes (Baker Makers, if you will). I can handle all of the above, but, again, I had a preconceived notion of what a Canadian video should be, and it wasn’t this.

The video started off with Mike McDermott’s part. Again, expectations were thrown for loops. Mike McDermott is known for being tech and super clean, however, this was not the case for his part here. He did put down some good stuff, but it almost seemed like he was trying to work on a grimy East Coast style. Maybe I am looking into it too much.

I am pretty sure that I have expressed my dislike for horrid pushing and awkward footing in the past, but I am going to have to reiterate for a couple guys. Aaron Blatt has what I can only think to call banana feet…or perhaps thunder feet. Basically he just seems heavy footed and his feet look misplaced on his board. It is just weird, regardless of the tricks he was actually making. Another perpetrator is Paul Spencer. Paul doesn’t have awkward feet, but he likes to skate switch a lot. But somewhere along the way when he was learning all these switch maneuvers, he forgot to learn how to push switch. What has resulted is a part full of mongo pushing…he likes do full lines switch.

Jason Crolly actually had a really good part. He has his frontside noseslides down and can slide them much longer than you (or I) can even imagine holding them. The funny thing about Jason is that he looks like some older guy that you would think should stick to bowls and low impact transitions, but no. He is hucking overcrooks and back lips down handrails.

Rod Ferens is a funny character. At first look, you would think that he is some baseball/basketball fan that plays Madden ’08 or something with his homies, smoking blunts and eating crap junkfood. This may all be true of the tubby bald guy in the jerseys and headbands, but what I wouldn’t have thought at first glance is that he has high snaps and a quick flick. His tricks are solid and his contradictory exterior actually makes him more likeable.

Last part goes to Travis Stenger and his flawless kickflip backside nose grinds. This guy has all the tech stuff on lock: flat, mannies, ledges. His skating is more in line with what I have grown accustom to with skate videos from our neighbors to the north.

One name that was on the box with all the other names of guys with full parts was Mike Christie…but he didn’t have a part. I think he had a couple tricks in the friend montage, but it is obvious that his name was on there just to sell more copies…but that is not new to skate videos. Now the million-dollar question: was it worth the money? It’s funny because I don’t remember what I paid for it, but if it was more than $10, then no. If it was $10 or under, then sure. Not an expounding yes, but a simple sure. The last three parts are definitely worth watching.

Dave Thomas (no, not that Dave Thomas) sent me this clip. I thought it was pretty funny. Corny, but not too corny.

Now to a more serious tone. Tomorrow is the big election that everyone is talking about. Please vote for who you want to be president, don't vote for the lesser of two evils. Hopefully you know that there are more than two people running. I am endorsing (for what that is worth) Ralph Nader since he more closely represents my views on politics. I will not go off on a rant as to why you should vote for him too, but if you want to see his views you can just click here. Defensive voting is an insult to the constitution and yourself. Real talk.